COVID-19 vaccines for low- and middle-income countries

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic is the biggest threat to public health in a century. Through hard work and ingenuity, scientists have developed a number of safe and effective vaccines against COVID-19 disease. However, demand far outstrips supply and countries around the world are competing for available vaccines. This review describes how low- and middle-income countries access COVID-19 vaccines, what is being done to distribute vaccines fairly, as well as the challenges ahead.

Keywords: 2019 novel coronavirus disease clinical trial; COVID-19; low- and middle-income countries; severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; vaccines.

Figure 1.

Global distribution of COVID-19 cases reported by low- and middle-income countries. This figure charts the number of cases recorded by World-o-meter up to 30 January 2021, 1 y after the WHO had declared COVID-19 as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.

Figure 2.

Global distribution of COVID-19 direct orders vs populations. Calculations were made using 2019 population figures released by the World Bank and the numbers of confirmed vaccine purchases published by The Duke Global Health Innovation Center.